Most recently I acquired a copy of the Southern Nevada Radio Scanner Book, 4th Edition which has a cover date of Feb 2006 from Radio World (702-294-2666) in Boulder City. Today I also saw it at Amateur Electronic Supply in Las Vegas (702-647-3114). This copy now sits next to many other books that I have acquired over the years relative to the hobby of monitor radio listening. Here is my evaluation of the book and other related thoughts.
Compared to the 3rd edition it has grown in size and is now 64 pages. The inside front cover now mentions the usual welcome data and provides their e-mail address. This page has not changed much nor would I expect it to change. Page three is the table of contents which is descriptive enough. Page four is an up to date listing of currently used frequencies of the Las Vegas Metro PD, 59 to be exact, excluding repeater input frequencies. Some changes are noted here. Page five brings a detailed site and frequency listing for the 800 MHz frequencies that the agency has recently been licensed for in regards to their planned trunked radio system. It does mention that civil litigation in federal court is pending between M/A Com and Motorola. I note that the case will be heard this week in the Las Vegas Federal Court. Twelve sites are noted for this radio system. Radio codes used by Metro PD follow onto page six with disposition codes next and the phonetic alphabet used by the agency. Page seven shows the different unit identifier types for Metro along with the first of several area command and beat maps.
Pages eight and nine have two other maps including one which shows police substations, fire stations, and hospitals in addition to the area command boundaries. Page ten shows the EDACS system currently used by the North Las Vegas government including police and local government services. Fire uses the Clark County TRS called SNACC. It does mention that the PD is planning to move to the SNACC system soon. This reviewer has heard NLVPD testing several talk groups on the SNACC system in the last few days and these were forwarded to the staff at Cat Comm and do appear on the last page of the book in the addendum section (last minute additions and changes). Page 11 is a familiar NLVPD beat map. Page 12 covers Boulder City police, fire, and local government radio systems. Mesquite PD, FD, and local gov't. operations also appear on this page. Only one advertisement appears in this book and it is on this page and describes scanner programming services performed at Radio World for a wide variety of radios. I suspect this comes in handy for those who do not have the time or lack the motivation to program radios with the correct information. It can take many hours to do just one radio by hand if one has never done it for a given geographic area. Their fees start as low as $20 per radio.
Page 13 is a detailed presentation of the Clark County trunked radio system called SNACC (Southern Nevada Area Communications Council). A growing list of agencies using the Motorola system is noted followed by a current frequency list for it. Conventional frequencies that some of the system users are also mentioned including when they go simplex, often on large fire scenes. The geographic area that the system serves is discussed and it is growing into the rural areas of Clark County and Northwest Arizona. Its transition into a "Smartzone" system is also mentioned and its effects on monitor radio listeners. Next is a expanded site list with frequencies for each. Thirty sites are presented so when the Smartzone system takes effect listeners will have all the frequencies needed to continue their listening pleasure. Pages 15 thru 18 show 174 talk groups by agency order followed by a reverse list on pages 19 thru 22 in talk group ID number order.
Pages 23 and 24 show an updated fire station list with address information and equipment for the Clark County FD, Henderson FD, City of Las Vegas FD, and the North Las Vegas FD. Also on page 24 is the Non-800 MHz information for emergency medical services where VHF and UHF data is provided for both American Medical Response and Medic West which I believe replaced Southwest Ambulance. Company and UHF medical channels are covered. Page 25 shows the specialized medical dispatch codes used by the fire departments and ambulance companies which tells you the specific type of problem using a numerical code and a level of response (seriousness) given in a letter, A thru D. A new section is entitled, "Hospital Waiting Time Color Codes" (green, yellow, red, and black) follows. This is the time where an ambulance crew must stay with the patient upon arrival at the hospital until the hospital staff takes over care.
Page 26 is a conventional list of 59 frequencies used by different local government entities so if you don't have a trunking scanner this list is for you. Page 27 is a color beat map for Henderson Police. On page 28 I find the radio code for Henderson PD and a brief review of 800 MHz conventional mutual aid frequencies that they sometimes use. Some unit type designators also appear and the conventional frequency used at the Henderson Detention Center.
Page 29 is an in-depth introduction into the State's trunking system entitled, "Nevada Shared Radio System". This section tells you how to program it (very different from Motorola systems), the frequencies and proper order for multiple sites in Southern Nevada. Pages 30-35 provide a detailed listing of 313 talk groups in agency order used on the system statewide. Comments are often provided in regards to activity on a given talk group and the basic duties of some lesser known agencies. Pages 36-41 provide a listing by talk group ID number so if you are searching and see an ID number but do not know the agency this table will tell you. Again, this is a statewide list. This writer and others would like to see this section in regards to frequencies of sites expanded to include all system sites in Nevada. Maybe it will happen we can only hope. Pages 42 thru 45 include a detailed breakdown into callsigns of DPS units on the system (NHP, Parole & Probation, State Fire Marshal, Division of Investigations, and Capitol Police) showing you the rank of the officer, the ten and eleven radio codes including a few which were added after the last edition first came out, special transport radio codes, criminal history codes, incident disposition codes including the new ones that came out after the last edition was first published, radio call designators which tell you the agency as many non-DPS agencies can be heard on it when speaking with the NHP dispatchers, and DPS patrol beats in Southern Nevada.
Page 45 also includes a new section, "DPS Conventional System For Southern Nevada" which shows sites and licensed frequencies (VHF high band and not the old illegal system) for various mountain tops and the Las Vegas Hilton. This seems to serve as a backup. This page also shows frequencies for a variety of other State agencies operating in Southern Nevada.
Pages 46 and 47 show selected federal frequencies used in Southern Nevada by the BLM, Dept. of Interior Lake Mead, Bur. of Reclamation, Postal Service, National Weather Service, and other federal law enforcement agencies that do not talk a great deal.
The TSA is also mentioned but you will need a digital capable radio to hear them on their conventional VHF frequency.
Pages 47 and 48 cover the aircraft operations at the Nellis Air Force Base and vicinity as well as the Motorola digital trunking system that includes ground operations at the base. Air show frequencies used for the 2004 and 2005 shows are also mentioned.
Pages 48 and 49 include commercial and general aviation for Southern Nevada covering the airports in detail, air traffic control center frequencies (LA, Oakland, and Salt Lake City) that are operable in this area, and AIRINC (Aeronautical Inc.) frequencies used by various airlines to talk to their company ground operations sometimes involving phone patches. This can get very interesting at times.
Page 50 includes ground transport frequencies including the Las Vegas Monorail which has had many mechanical difficulties since it began operation and created some rather interesting radio conversations, the Union Pacific Railroad, the CAT bus system where informality often prevails over the radio, and various taxi and limo companies. Motor sports begins on this page and goes into page 51 with frequencies for a wide variety of race teams (off road and others).
Page 51 continues with airline ground operations frequencies and follows with golf course and country club frequency information. Page 52 begins a very long hotel and casino frequency section with more trunking details for different properties than before. It seems to be very up to date as it notes the Castaways implosion earlier in Jan. 2006, the pending closure of the Stardust, and the name change at the Aladdin (now Planet Hollywood). 117 properties are mentioned with 41 trunking systems noted.
Page 61 includes a growing selected business section and continues to page 63 where a long list of selected ham radio repeaters appears for this area. Page 64 has a new section entitled, "Las Vegas Television Audio Frequencies" which is a list of stations and frequencies so if you don't have a television handy but you do have a wide band scanner you can listen to the audio portion of the transmission. I do this from time to time and enjoy it.
Finally on page 64 the last item is the Last Minute Update section which mentions certain talk groups of the North Las Vegas Police that have been heard being tested on the Clark County trunking system in the last few days, the Las Vegas Municipal Court Marshals also heard on the SNACC system along with their ID and several other users. Part II to follow because of message size limitations.
Compared to the 3rd edition it has grown in size and is now 64 pages. The inside front cover now mentions the usual welcome data and provides their e-mail address. This page has not changed much nor would I expect it to change. Page three is the table of contents which is descriptive enough. Page four is an up to date listing of currently used frequencies of the Las Vegas Metro PD, 59 to be exact, excluding repeater input frequencies. Some changes are noted here. Page five brings a detailed site and frequency listing for the 800 MHz frequencies that the agency has recently been licensed for in regards to their planned trunked radio system. It does mention that civil litigation in federal court is pending between M/A Com and Motorola. I note that the case will be heard this week in the Las Vegas Federal Court. Twelve sites are noted for this radio system. Radio codes used by Metro PD follow onto page six with disposition codes next and the phonetic alphabet used by the agency. Page seven shows the different unit identifier types for Metro along with the first of several area command and beat maps.
Pages eight and nine have two other maps including one which shows police substations, fire stations, and hospitals in addition to the area command boundaries. Page ten shows the EDACS system currently used by the North Las Vegas government including police and local government services. Fire uses the Clark County TRS called SNACC. It does mention that the PD is planning to move to the SNACC system soon. This reviewer has heard NLVPD testing several talk groups on the SNACC system in the last few days and these were forwarded to the staff at Cat Comm and do appear on the last page of the book in the addendum section (last minute additions and changes). Page 11 is a familiar NLVPD beat map. Page 12 covers Boulder City police, fire, and local government radio systems. Mesquite PD, FD, and local gov't. operations also appear on this page. Only one advertisement appears in this book and it is on this page and describes scanner programming services performed at Radio World for a wide variety of radios. I suspect this comes in handy for those who do not have the time or lack the motivation to program radios with the correct information. It can take many hours to do just one radio by hand if one has never done it for a given geographic area. Their fees start as low as $20 per radio.
Page 13 is a detailed presentation of the Clark County trunked radio system called SNACC (Southern Nevada Area Communications Council). A growing list of agencies using the Motorola system is noted followed by a current frequency list for it. Conventional frequencies that some of the system users are also mentioned including when they go simplex, often on large fire scenes. The geographic area that the system serves is discussed and it is growing into the rural areas of Clark County and Northwest Arizona. Its transition into a "Smartzone" system is also mentioned and its effects on monitor radio listeners. Next is a expanded site list with frequencies for each. Thirty sites are presented so when the Smartzone system takes effect listeners will have all the frequencies needed to continue their listening pleasure. Pages 15 thru 18 show 174 talk groups by agency order followed by a reverse list on pages 19 thru 22 in talk group ID number order.
Pages 23 and 24 show an updated fire station list with address information and equipment for the Clark County FD, Henderson FD, City of Las Vegas FD, and the North Las Vegas FD. Also on page 24 is the Non-800 MHz information for emergency medical services where VHF and UHF data is provided for both American Medical Response and Medic West which I believe replaced Southwest Ambulance. Company and UHF medical channels are covered. Page 25 shows the specialized medical dispatch codes used by the fire departments and ambulance companies which tells you the specific type of problem using a numerical code and a level of response (seriousness) given in a letter, A thru D. A new section is entitled, "Hospital Waiting Time Color Codes" (green, yellow, red, and black) follows. This is the time where an ambulance crew must stay with the patient upon arrival at the hospital until the hospital staff takes over care.
Page 26 is a conventional list of 59 frequencies used by different local government entities so if you don't have a trunking scanner this list is for you. Page 27 is a color beat map for Henderson Police. On page 28 I find the radio code for Henderson PD and a brief review of 800 MHz conventional mutual aid frequencies that they sometimes use. Some unit type designators also appear and the conventional frequency used at the Henderson Detention Center.
Page 29 is an in-depth introduction into the State's trunking system entitled, "Nevada Shared Radio System". This section tells you how to program it (very different from Motorola systems), the frequencies and proper order for multiple sites in Southern Nevada. Pages 30-35 provide a detailed listing of 313 talk groups in agency order used on the system statewide. Comments are often provided in regards to activity on a given talk group and the basic duties of some lesser known agencies. Pages 36-41 provide a listing by talk group ID number so if you are searching and see an ID number but do not know the agency this table will tell you. Again, this is a statewide list. This writer and others would like to see this section in regards to frequencies of sites expanded to include all system sites in Nevada. Maybe it will happen we can only hope. Pages 42 thru 45 include a detailed breakdown into callsigns of DPS units on the system (NHP, Parole & Probation, State Fire Marshal, Division of Investigations, and Capitol Police) showing you the rank of the officer, the ten and eleven radio codes including a few which were added after the last edition first came out, special transport radio codes, criminal history codes, incident disposition codes including the new ones that came out after the last edition was first published, radio call designators which tell you the agency as many non-DPS agencies can be heard on it when speaking with the NHP dispatchers, and DPS patrol beats in Southern Nevada.
Page 45 also includes a new section, "DPS Conventional System For Southern Nevada" which shows sites and licensed frequencies (VHF high band and not the old illegal system) for various mountain tops and the Las Vegas Hilton. This seems to serve as a backup. This page also shows frequencies for a variety of other State agencies operating in Southern Nevada.
Pages 46 and 47 show selected federal frequencies used in Southern Nevada by the BLM, Dept. of Interior Lake Mead, Bur. of Reclamation, Postal Service, National Weather Service, and other federal law enforcement agencies that do not talk a great deal.
The TSA is also mentioned but you will need a digital capable radio to hear them on their conventional VHF frequency.
Pages 47 and 48 cover the aircraft operations at the Nellis Air Force Base and vicinity as well as the Motorola digital trunking system that includes ground operations at the base. Air show frequencies used for the 2004 and 2005 shows are also mentioned.
Pages 48 and 49 include commercial and general aviation for Southern Nevada covering the airports in detail, air traffic control center frequencies (LA, Oakland, and Salt Lake City) that are operable in this area, and AIRINC (Aeronautical Inc.) frequencies used by various airlines to talk to their company ground operations sometimes involving phone patches. This can get very interesting at times.
Page 50 includes ground transport frequencies including the Las Vegas Monorail which has had many mechanical difficulties since it began operation and created some rather interesting radio conversations, the Union Pacific Railroad, the CAT bus system where informality often prevails over the radio, and various taxi and limo companies. Motor sports begins on this page and goes into page 51 with frequencies for a wide variety of race teams (off road and others).
Page 51 continues with airline ground operations frequencies and follows with golf course and country club frequency information. Page 52 begins a very long hotel and casino frequency section with more trunking details for different properties than before. It seems to be very up to date as it notes the Castaways implosion earlier in Jan. 2006, the pending closure of the Stardust, and the name change at the Aladdin (now Planet Hollywood). 117 properties are mentioned with 41 trunking systems noted.
Page 61 includes a growing selected business section and continues to page 63 where a long list of selected ham radio repeaters appears for this area. Page 64 has a new section entitled, "Las Vegas Television Audio Frequencies" which is a list of stations and frequencies so if you don't have a television handy but you do have a wide band scanner you can listen to the audio portion of the transmission. I do this from time to time and enjoy it.
Finally on page 64 the last item is the Last Minute Update section which mentions certain talk groups of the North Las Vegas Police that have been heard being tested on the Clark County trunking system in the last few days, the Las Vegas Municipal Court Marshals also heard on the SNACC system along with their ID and several other users. Part II to follow because of message size limitations.
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